


Bento Boxes

by Junliet



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Childhood Friends, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Some Fluff, cuteness, injury mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25606573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junliet/pseuds/Junliet
Summary: "So, I think he's really pretty, but I don't know how to tell him that."Ryuju tapped at his chin and hummed, looking past Keiji to where Yuzuru was warming up backstage. The trio of nine-year-olds were thick as thieves normally, but Yuzuru took his training more seriously than the other two."He is very pretty," Ryuju agreed before his eyes lit up and he poked Keiji on the arm. "That's it! You should give him a bento box!"
Relationships: Yuzuru Hanyu/Keiji Tanaka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	Bento Boxes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [of_feathers_and_bowstrings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/of_feathers_and_bowstrings/gifts).



> Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing good and staying safe. This story follows our two lovely friends who have been competing together since 2004, so they absolutely deserve a fic. This is something a little bit different for someone special. I really really hope you enjoy this you fantastic fabulous angel! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy this xxx

"So, I think he's really pretty, but I don't know how to tell him that."

Ryuju tapped at his chin and hummed, looking past Keiji to where Yuzuru was warming up backstage. The trio of nine-year-olds were thick as thieves normally, but Yuzuru took his training more seriously than the other two.

"He is very pretty," Ryuju agreed before his eyes lit up and he poked Keiji on the arm. "That's it! You should give him a bento box!"

"A bento box?"

"Yeah, you know? You could make him a bento box and you could make it extra cute and I'm sure he'd love it!"

Keiji hummed, thinking as he watched Yuzuru stretch out and chatter away to his coach before he burst out laughing. That night, when he got back to his hotel, he begged his mother to take him early the next day to go and buy a bento box for Yuzuru.

"Hi, um, Yuzu? Just wanted to say good luck to you and, uh..." Keiji pushed the bento box into his hand. "Good luck!"

He ran as fast as he could away from the other and didn't see Yuzuru's small smile and the little blush that spread across his cheeks.

The next year, at the next novice championships, Keiji was presented with a bento box from Yuzuru and the other blushed aggressively.

"To say thank you. For last year." Yuzuru explained as he stuttered his way through it as he shoved the box into Keiji's hands. "Good luck at competition!"

Keiji believed that it was blessed with good luck when he finished on the podium alongside his two best friends in the world. He caught Yuzuru just after and gave him a smile.

"Thank you for the bento box. I feel like it gave me good luck, you know?"

"I'm glad you like it," Yuzuru's smile was brighter than a thousand stars and shone more than his bronze medal. "See you next year! Good luck then!"

The year after, the trio had moved up to the Novice A championships. Keiji stayed up the night before and meticulously made a bento as best as he could in his hotel room for Yuzuru, trying to make it look pretty and aesthetic. To his dismay, it was a mess, but he hoped that it would taste a little better than it tasted.

"Yuzu?" he said softly as he watched the younger take out his cheap earphones and pause his training. He offered him the bento box and gave him a gentle smile. "Good luck!"

"Thanks Keiji," Yuzuru's face scrunched up adorably and he handed the box to his coach. "I'll have it after, okay?"

"Okay. Um, you don't have to have it if you don't want to. Just thought..." Keiji trailed off and waved his arms around to try and distract the other from his blushing red face. Yuzuru's scrunchy smile made his heart flutter in a way that it had no right to that he did his best to blame on teenage hormones, even though he was only eleven.

"Thank you Keiji. It means a lot to me."

Keiji stepped into the locker room and set down his silver with a sigh. He rummaged through his bag, ready to head to the showers when his fingertips brushed against something hard and plastic. He withdrew it and a small smile spread across his face.

_Thanks for the bento box last year! Enjoy this one!_

Keiji, despite knowing his parents were going to take him out for a meal later, sat down on the bench and tucked into it. The cute, slightly lopsided hot dog octopuses warmed his heart, and they tasted better when he remembered that Yuzuru had put effort into them for him.

All through their shared Junior national championships, they alternated gifting each other bento boxes. When Yuzuru moved up to seniors, Keiji made sure to go and watch him when they were in different groups, and he gave him a bento box afterwards to reward him for his 4th place finish, then his 3rd place finish. He remembered staying up for hours to watch him compete at his first World Championships, and he spammed him with congratulatory Line messages when he saw him win the bronze medal.

The next senior nationals were different. Yuzuru, for the first time, became the National Champion much to the irritation and anger of several fans. Keiji wanted to run and hug him when they booed him as he stepped onto the top step of the podium and, when he saw the tears in Yuzuru's eyes, he knew that they weren't tears of happiness and joy. He pushed through the crowd and made his way back to the hotel, stopping and knocking on the door to room 314. There was some shuffling behind it and Yuzuru opened the door, stepping back and letting him in.

"I'm sorry," Keiji's voice was gentle as they sat on the edge of Yuzuru's bed together. "You did such an amazing job and you deserved to win."

Yuzuru said nothing and only worried his hands in his lap. Keiji placed a hand on them to stop him before he pushed the bento box into Yuzuru's hands.

"Congratulations on winning. I... I was going to give you this no matter the result but I'm glad I could give it to you after a win."

Yuzuru gave him a weak smile and leaned his head on Keiji's shoulder.

"Share it with me?"

Keiji blushed bright red, especially when he caught Mrs Hanyu's eyes from across the hotel room, but he obediently opened his mouth when Yuzuru offered him some rice.

"Good?" Yuzu asked around his own mouthful as he seemed to perk up with happiness.

"Better with you," Keiji said before he could stop himself, blushing bright red. Yuzuru's nose scrunched up with happiness and his nose crinkled in that way that made Keiji's stomach do flips and butterflies take over his heart.

The nationals after, Keiji won at the junior level finally and found a bento box sitting atop his folded clothes in his locker. On top of it was a little heart drawn on a note, and he didn't need any writing to understand who it was from. He got his revenge when he left one underneath Pooh-san and it was more than worth being thoroughly judged by Yuzuru's coach to see the other skater's bright smile in response. He and Ryuju had a sleepover so that they could watch together as Yuzuru ascended to and conquered the highest crown, becoming the Olympic Champion he'd always dreamed of being.

Their next shared championships, Keiji had prepared a bento box for Yuzuru. He had it sitting in his bag and he was waiting for Yuzuru to finish his free skate so that he could give it to him. But whispers flew around backstage about a delayed warm up and having to scrape the ice, and so he forced himself through the crowd. He froze in place, nearly dropping the box, when he saw the medical team bandaging up his friend's head and checking him over for the immediate signs of concussion. He couldn't look away, even when he saw his friend fall five times and break down sobbing in the Kiss and Cry before he was pulled away to see a doctor. He ended up eating the bento box himself but, instead of it bringing him joy, it felt heavy and tasted like nothing to him. Because of what had happened in China, the thought of bringing a bento box to Nationals for Yuzuru had completely slipped his mind. He watched as his friend once again ascended to the top and, even as disappointment at his own 8th place finished gnawed at him, he couldn't help but be happy for Yuzuru. He headed back to the locker room with a bone deep exhaustion and opened up his locker, pausing with a smile.

A little pooh bear themed bento box sat in his locker. There was no note; there didn't need to be. Keiji picked it up and sighed happily, heading off to his hotel room feeling much lighter and happier.

Keiji was lucky enough to bear witness to the shattering of history at the 2015 NHK trophy, and he was lucky he wasn't a snake or his jaw would have hit the floor. There was flawless, and then there was whatever Yuzuru had just done. He'd flipped off the heavens themselves and shouted to the other competitors "catch me if you can!" while he spread his wings and soared to heights no one else had ever dared dream of. He headed up to room 562 and knocked on the door, holding the gift for his friend in his hands. Yuzuru's mother opened the door and let him in before she left, giving the pair of them some space. Yuzuru all but flew into Keiji's arms, cuddling him tightly. He hid his face in the other's neck and Keiji cupped his waist with his free hand.

"I'm so happy," Yuzuru clung to Keiji as they settled down on the bed together, still in Keiji's arms. "I don't know what else to say. I'm just so happy."

"I'm so proud of you," Keiji grinned. "In fact," he handed him the bento box, "ta-da!"

"Thank you Keiji!" Yuzuru opened it up and offered him a mouthful of the rice. "Open wide!"

Keiji flushed bright pink as the other fed him the rice. Maybe the light was playing a trick on him, but he could have sworn that Yuzuru was also blushing pink, just like he was.

At Nationals, even though Yuzuru won, something was off. He didn't look as happy and something was off about him. To come from such heights to have as messy a free as he did, it stung. Even when he received the traditional nationals bento box that, as always, was sitting atop his neatly folded things, something didn't feel right.

He found out why when he heard about the Lisfranc fracture after Worlds.

If Keiji was being honest, he adored Yuzuru's programmes this season. He didn't care that they weren't perfect. They were beautiful nonetheless. He couldn't care less about his own scores, but getting to see Yuzuru floating during his performances, except when he fell, was an experience he wanted to see forever. Walking back to the hotel together in the cool air, their hands brushed against each other's repeatedly, but neither was brave enough to take the plunge and grab the other. They exchanged bento boxes and sat up in Keiji's room, eating them together before they played video games well into the night.

Nationals without Yuzuru felt wrong. Even though Keiji found a bento box sitting with his things, it didn't taste nearly as good as the ones that he knew Yuzuru had made himself. And it tasted worse knowing Yuzuru was suffering badly with the flu.

At Keiji's first Four Continents Championship, he watched and cheered for Yuzuru as he fought for his life in the free and scrambled to make up the points he'd lost with the salchow combination. His disappointment that it wasn't enough was clear as day on his face and, after collecting his medal and congratulating the others, he headed up to his hotel room and flopped face first on the bed. He groaned, hiding his face in the pillow as the frustration at yet another imperfect free bubbled up inside of him. He picked his head up and squeezed his pooh bear's front paws when he heard that telltale knock on the door. Even with his frustration inside of him, he couldn't help but smile as he pushed himself to his feet and, still with the pooh bear in his arms, he opened it up and let Keiji step in.

"Hey. You did well there. I'm proud of you."

"I got second--"

"And I know it isn't what you wanted, but your fight isn't here. This Four Continents? It doesn't matter. Your goal is the Olympics and you know it is. At the last Olympic test event, you won the silver, and then you won the Olympic gold. This time, you've won the test event silver, so hopefully that means you win the Olympic gold next year."

"I hope so," Yuzuru leaned his head on Keiji's shoulder as they sat on his bed together for a moment. "I couldn't make you a proper bento box this time, so I did my best with some Korean stuff from the convenience store at two in the morning. I'm so sorry Keiji."

"Anything from you is good. I promise. And I made you one with what I could get from Korean convenience stores too, so we're both as bad as each other."

With Yuzuru finally gigging, they each ate the box the other had given them. Keiji, in that moment, would have said that he'd never tasted anything better.

And he was being honest.

At Worlds, Yuzuru was wrapped up in a whirlwind of media personnel, especially after he achieved skating perfection. Keiji felt a swell of pride when it was his childhood friend, his _best friend_ , who broke all the barriers and soared to the heights others hadn't even dared to dream of. This time, instead of his wings being made of a white to blue gradient and cream decorated with delicate rhinestones, they were the most glorious gradient of white, blue, and green. He shot off a Line message to him but didn't expect to be able to meet him. When it reached the end of the championships, he returned early from the banquet and sat on his bed, holding the bento box he'd made for Yuzuru in his hands. With a frustrated sigh, he set it on his bedside table and shrugged off his suit jacket, hanging up as he went for the tie and shirt. Just as he pulled the shirt off, he heard the knock at the door. He yelped, scrambling to tug on a hoodie, before he opened the door. Looking like an exhausted dream, Yuzuru tugged on the sleeves of his too-long suit jacket with his free hand, and he offered Keiji the bento box with the other.

"You had time to make one? Even with all this going on?"

"Making you a bento box was my first priority," Yuzuru told him as Keiji let him into the room. He handed the champion the one he'd made for him and Yuzuru's smile was brighter even than when he'd shattered the world record.

"To be honest Yuzu? It was my top priority too."

Everything changed in that split second with the lutz. One of their competitions together, Nationals, vanished in the blink of an eye. Keiji spent too long watching the footage back, over and over and over, just wondering if there was some way he could intervene and stop that sickening fall. It wasn't their lost competition together that hurt him the most. It was that Yuzuru's Olympic dreams might have just slipped through the cracks. He'd withdrawn from the Rostelecom Cup due to an injury and might have just thrown away one of his last chances for a while to compete alongside Yuzuru. Yuzuru would have kicked him in the face if he'd competed on that injury, even though Yuzuru did it all the time, but he couldn't help but hate the regret that pooled in his stomach. Finishing second at Nationals guaranteed him an Olympic and Worlds spot, but, even when the team was announced, their was a painful silence when Yuzuru was announced for the team and no one stepped out onto the ice. Some people who hated him murmured that Yuzuru shouldn't have been named, and Keiji wanted to slap them all silly. Of course Yuzuru deserved the spot! He and Shoma won Japan the three spots. He was the reigning World and Olympic Champion. He was number one in the world standings. It would have been an insult to even consider not giving him an Olympic spot. They named him for the World Championships too, but Keiji doubted he'd go to them; he wasn't even convinced Yuzuru's ankle could hold up for the Olympics.

"Focus on yourself," they told him. "Focus on Four Continents. Focus on your own performances. Focus on your own Olympic dreams." That's what they said over and over again. Whoever they were.

His fourth place finish at Four Continents was frustrating but hope still blossomed in his chest. Next up was the Olympics, and Yuzuru was going to be there. He was going to see him again! The light kept him buoyant all the way through until he landed in Korea and walked with Team Japan at the opening ceremony. While joking with Shoma and Chris was fun, Yuzuru was missing and no one could replace him. Seeing the footage of him screwing the world over by singling all his jumps before doing a triple axel and leaving broke through Keiji's nerves and made him burst out laughing. _That_ was the Yuzuru he knew and loved dearly.

Loved.

Keiji pushed the thought aside and focused instead on his own skate. Messy, but he qualified for the free and that was all he mattered. He managed to sneak into the stands so that he could watch the last group.

He looked ethereal, like a fairy in blue and white. The lights of the stadium were sent around with the sparkle of a thousand rhinestones. And, once again, Keiji watched as Yuzuru reached that place high above the rest of the world that no one else could touch. He could see Nobu was crying and, as he hid his face in Kana's shoulder, he realised he was too. Even with an ankle injury that he was sure was significantly worse than Yuzuru had admitted, he'd still spread those white and blue wings to the rest of the world and dared them to chase after him, knowing that no one could catch up.

Keiji just enjoyed his free skate as best as he could, but his mind was elsewhere, to the man starting twenty-second. He watched as Nathan soared again after falling so hard. He watched as the people began to settle and, when Yuzuru stepped up looking like he'd walked out of a book on Japan, his heart raced. Kana squeezed one of his hands and Satoko had the other in her hand while all of Team Japan collectively held their breaths.

Keiji only dared to let out a breath when Yuzuru threw both arms out to the side and stamped at the end. The whole arena was filled with a wave of relief and joy that Yuzuru held inside of him. When the score was announced the roars went up, and Keiji caught Yuzuru's words.

"Do you think he'll get caught by anyone?" Kaori spoke through the cheers for Javier.

"Not a chance," Satoko shook her head in disbelief and laughed. "My God Yuzu, you are a miracle."

_A miracle_

As Keiji watched Yuzuru jump up on the top step that he'd fought tooth and nail to claim, he couldn't help but agree with Satoko's words. Instead of seeing the two-time Olympic Champion, he burst out laughing when he saw nine-year-old Yuzuru climb up onto the top step of the novice nationals podium again. After the venue ceremony, Keiji made it back to his room and fell back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

_What now Keiji?_

He turned his head and looked for a moment at the bento box he'd made that morning to try and calm himself down. Yuzuru had messaged him his room number when he'd first landed and, without thinking, he followed his heart and found himself outside room 317. He knocked on the door and had transcended his nerves to the point where he felt an other-wordly sense of calm. When the door opened, his heart flipped at the sight of his damp, tousled hair and soft jumper.

"Hey," Yuzu let him in and climbed back on the bed, wrapping the ice pack back around his ankle, "I've got something for you."

"There's something I'd like to give you too." Keiji held out the bento box to him, and Yuzuru burst out laughing.

"I spoke to Jun. He thinks I'm a complete idiot but, thanks to him..." he offered Keiji another bento box. "For you. And also," he reached into h is bag and got out the case containing his gold medal. He placed it around his neck gently and adjusted the ribbon, "thank you. Because I'd never have won this without you."

"Yuzu, you won this because you fought and worked for it."

"And who helped me keep fighting?" Yuzuru asked him and reached for Keiji's hand, squeezing it. "Who gave me a reason to fight? I missed Nationals and didn't have a chance to see you there, so I knew I had to get here to see you. And, if I was competing, I wanted to do it properly and show my best. But Keiji, without you, I'd probably have given up years back. I'd have given up after the rink..." He grimaced and Keiji squeezed his hand, terrified of hearing the rest but more terrified of letting it go unsaid. "You helped to light the spark inside of me that has burned through all of this and given me reasons to fight. Or, just one reason." He cupped Keiji's cheek, fingers tracing his jawline, and he pressed their foreheads together. "You are my reason. You are the wings that help me to fly."

"And I love nothing more than seeing you soar," Keiji whispered before he closed the distance between them and captured Yuzuru's lips in a soft kiss that held twelve years of unspoken love between them, shown only through exchanging bento boxes.


End file.
